


Oathkeeper

by Echo (Lyrecho)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AU, Gen, KH3 Speculation, Post-Dream Drop Distance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 11:57:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8161316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrecho/pseuds/Echo
Summary: Sora's encounter with Roxas during the Mark of Mastery triggered something - and now he's determined to finish what was started, almost a decade earlier.Even if he has to go it alone. |Tumblr| |Twitter|





	

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to let you all know, right now, that those who do not read the Kingdom Hearts manga are missing out. It's a gift to humanity. A purest light in the darkness that is our world. Go read it.
> 
> This is sort of post DDD, kinda KH3 speculation? I don't know, and it's definitely AU - already just from snippets, teasers and secrets it's debunked by canon - but I just wanted to write some fluffy stuff with four of my favourite characters. 
> 
> Headcanons abound, so be warned.

"This," Riku declared, "is stupid."

The reactions from Sora and Kairi were pretty much as he expected - Kairi ignored him with a roll of her eyes, and Sora snorted.

"You'd know," he said, grinning at Riku. "You have to be the stupidest person here."

("Stupidest?" Kairi muttered. "Most stupid?

Axel - or, well, Lea - who was also with them, sprawled on the steps at the entrance to Yen Sid's tower and had been doing his level best not to get pulled into their shenanigans, turned to Kairi, whom he seemed to have labeled as the most sane neutral ground he had among the three of them. "Most stupid," he said.)

Riku gritted his teeth, but did not rise to the bait Sora was dangling in front of him. "I say this as someone who opened our world to the darkness and then spent a good length of time trusting Maleficent as an authority in _anything_ ," he said slowly, "that if we do this, it will _literally be the stupidest thing I've ever done_."

"Most stupid," Kairi and Lea spoke up in unison.

Riku waved them off with an annoyed frown.

Sora leant forward, elbows on his knees, and regardless of the fact that he was sitting on the steps below where Riku was standing, and that he would still be shorter even if they _were_ standing on equal ground - Riku suddenly felt very small, in a way very few people could make him feel. "You don't have to come," his friend said quietly. "None of you do."

Kairi looked affronted - offended beyond belief by the very idea of one of her boys leaving her behind _again_ , especially after Yen Sid had finally made her an official apprentice, giving them absolutely no excuse to shove her to the sidelines - and, leaning around her, still dressed in the Organization cloak that had once belonged to Axel, Lea shot Sora an equally put-out look; clearly neither of _them_ had any reservations about throwing themselves headlong into the Realm of Darkness.

"Sora," Riku pleaded. "You _can't do this_."

Because Kairi and Lea didn't _understand_ \- Kairi's heart of pure light and his and Sora's own implicit agreement to never mention anything about that final fight with Xemnas beyond what was necessary meaning she didn't know what the Realm of Darkness was truly like; Lea might have had a better _idea_ , a Nobody's existence so intrinsically soaked in darkness that he couldn't really _escape_ it - but there was a huge difference between using the darkness on the outskirts of the Lanes Between to travel the worlds and willingly throwing yourself into a realm made purely of darkness, _especially_ when there was no way _out_ of said realm, the only reason Riku had made it out either of the two times he had found himself stranded on it's dark shores a miracle, like lightning somehow striking twice in the same place.

But Sora - Sora knew. He knew, and Riku could see in his eyes that he didn't really care. He'd made up his mind.

"Yes, I can," he said. "I'm not a master, but I know I can do this, Riku."

Over Sora's head, Riku sent a pleading look Kairi's way, and she responded with a worried glance of her own. It had been only two days earlier, after all, since Sora had come running up from the beach, damp with seaspray and with sand clinging to him all over, insisting that they needed to return to Yen Sid's small pocket realm on the outskirts of Twilight Town as soon as possible, never mind the fact that they had only just got _back_ from Yen Sid's tower, the eldest master granting them some time to explain things to their parents and pack a few bags - a concession that had stunned the three of them, to be honest, because never before had the fate of the worlds and the powers that be considered their parents or material comforts to be of any importance.

(At the time, their face must have shown just how floored they were, because Mickey had shuffled them out of the doors as fast as he could, with strict orders to Sora to _not_ crash the gummi ship again - words that had not helped Riku's faith in a machine that apparently ran on smiling faces - and a smile, as he waved them off with plans to see them in about a week's time.)

Neither Riku nor Kairi knew what had set Sora off that day, when he had come all but _flying_ up to Kairi's house from the beach - but there had been a pensive, considering expression on his face that Riku had last seen right after the Mark of Mastery exam, before Sora had gone off on some sort of 'personal errand,' returning shortly after Riku had brought Kairi before Yen Sid; a look that told volumes of the seriousness of whatever was going on in Sora's mind - and whatever it was that they would need Lea for, apparently, since he was the entire reason Sora wanted to check in at Yen Sid's before gallivanting off in the first place.

(Probably because he _knew_ that Mickey and Yen Sid would disapprove of his plans, which were _stupid_.)

All they knew was that Sora had plans to go into the Realm of Darkness, and apparently he had no issues about going it alone, if he had to.

Riku grit his teeth. Was this it? Was this what dealing with _him_ felt like? If so, he double owed Sora for how much of an ass he had been, years earlier - just as soon as Sora stopped being an ass himself.

"There aren't enough masters, Riku," Sora said quietly. "That's the whole reason Yen Sid had us tested for the Mark of Mastery, right? And I _know_ that the moment I left, they took you aside and told you things only masters can know - meaning the more that know them, the better."

"So, what?" Kairi broke in, confused. "You think that going into the Realm of Darkness will help you to gain the Mark of Mastery?"

Sora shook his head. "No, that'll happen when it happens," he said cheerfully. "I'll probably be kicking Lea's butt next time I'm given the chance."

"Hey," Lea protested, and Kairi chimed in in agreement.

"Yeah, what he said," she pouted. "You don't think I'll learn fast enough to catch up with you guys, just because you have more combat experience than me?"

Sora shook his head frantically, _no_ , his eyes wide. "No, it's just - I know you'll kick my butt, Kairi. You and Riku have always been better at tests and stuff then me."

He said it all with a sheepish grin on his face, eyes crinkled shut he was grinning so widely, one hand rubbing at the back of his head as he laughed - the very picture of perfect self-deprecation, and now Kairi was frowning at the idea that Sora saw himself as lesser than his friends.

But Riku had known Sora even longer than Kairi, and he had seen this in practice long before Sora had perfected it into an art form. "Stop distracting us from the subject at hand, Sora," he interjected before Kairi's guilt could get her to drop it and simply just go along with what Sora wanted - which was what Sora had been planning, most likely.

If he felt bad for the manipulation, or surprised that he was caught, Sora didn't show it - merely flashed Riku a quick grin even as Kairi blinked, realizing that she had been duped with a scowl on her face, and amusement flickered to life in Lea's green eyes.

"Explain what you mean, then," Riku said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oooh, master face," Sora teased, and beside him Kairi giggled, never mind the fact that she was annoyed with Sora not five seconds earlier. Riku simply stared at his friend - his best friend, whose heart he had dived into not too long before this very moment they found themselves in - and waited him out. Finally, eventually, Sora sighed. "There's another master," he said. "A living one, and her name is Aqua."

Riku blinked at the words, a jumble of them that formed to make one of the most out there, random sentences Sora had ever spoken - and good lord was that _saying_ something.

"How do you know?" Lea's voice, and it was filled with an intensity Riku had not heard in it since Lea was Axel.

(He had been surprised, at first, at how quick Sora and Kairi had been to accept the older man in the Organization cloak - but had swiftly understood. Regardless of shared memories and clothing style, Axel and Lea were two fundamentally different people. They shared the same caustic sense of humor, as far as Riku could tell - but in Lea's case, there was always a sense of regard and care about him that Axel hadn't had. A softness, a kindness - mischief over trouble in his antics.)

Sora hesitated, and Riku could tell the exact moment that he decided to keep something - not all, but some vital piece of the story - to himself. "This," he said quietly, and after a quick glance up at the tall length of Yen Sid's tower, as if making sure no-one was watching, he shuffled back up the stairs, clambering past Riku in order to get under the shade and cover afforded by the wide doorway. He held out his hand once he was under cover, and Riku felt the air sharpen with the bitter, ozone tang of magic as it fizzed with power of a keyblade being called upon.

The summoning took seemingly longer than usual, to Riku's surprise - normally Sora's keyblade was quick enough to answer a call that it was near instantaneous, but not only was it taking a while (long enough that if this had been battle, Sora would probably be dead by now, standing still as he was), there was a strained look of deep concentration on Sora's face, as if the keyblade was fighting against him; fighting against being called.

As if the keyblade he was summoning was not his own.

And, as it appeared, finally, in a blazing light, Riku was almost certain that that was the case. Sora had a plethora of keyblades to choose from, switching out the keychains on the end of whichever blade he was using at any given time for another, more favourable one as the mood hit him - and even the fact that Riku didn't recognise this keyblade, all shining chrome and industrial angles, functional wrought iron forming blade and teeth, did not necessarily mean that it _wasn't_ Sora's; his friend found keychains the same way Kairi did mother-of-pearl seashells, as if the hearts of the worlds themselves were eagerly throwing gifts his way. But it felt to Riku as Destiny's Embrace once had, before his intuition had whispered to give it over to Kairi - as if Sora was merely a placeholder, guarding the keyblade until it could be given to its true wielder; the blade itself reluctantly going along with the one acting as its courier.

Kairi whistled even as Riku's mind raced - the keyblade had a length she had yet to see in any other, and something about it just seemed more...powerful, seriously charged, then the blades she and her friends fought with. "Where did you get that?" She asked curiously, peering forward with Lea to take in the smooth, unbroken lines of the new keyblade.

"On the beach," Sora answered, flashing a quick grin, and Kairi blinked.

"The beach?" She said, voice somewhat faint with disbelief. " _Our_ beach?"

"You'd be surprised what washes up on your islands," Lea remarked. "What comes from it, too."

"I think it came from the Realm of Darkness," Sora spoke over him. "Like, nearly one hundred percent sure."

"Then how did it get to our beach?" Kairi protested, as Riku scowled beside her in agreement.

Sora shrugged, and with a sigh of relief, relinquished his hold on the keyblade, it dispersing into ephemeral silver motes of light as his hand fell to rest at his side, clenching and unclenching as if stiff and sore. "The same way Riku and I did?" he suggested. "More than just one sky, I think the worlds share one sea."

"That still doesn't excuse the fact that you want to go to the Realm of Darkness because you're 'nearly one hundred percent sure' a keyblade washed up on the Destiny Islands from there," Riku said. "Nor does it _explain_ it."

For a moment, Sora looked incredibly shifty, and Riku narrowed his eyes. That look had last graced his friends face when extenuating circumstances had forced him to come clean about Anti-Form - when, otherwise, he would have continued to keep it to himself, like an _idiot_.

"And besides," Kairi said. "If you told Yen Sid and Mickey about this, I'm sure they'd be happy to let us go - and with _help_ , Sora."

"That will take too long!" Sora all but exploded, and Riku instinctively recoiled from the fury that flashed in his eyes, burning in a way that was far too Roxas for his tastes.

"Sora..." Kairi trailed off, eyes wide at their friends outburst.

Next to her, Lea had gone very, very still. "Let's go then," he said quickly, eyes fixated on Sora's, and Riku knew then that he hadn't been imagining it - the redhead had seen that flicker of someone else cross Sora's face as surely as he had. "If they don't want to come, just the two of us should be fine, right?" A wicked grin pulled at Lea's lips, then, and Riku had to grit his teeth at the easy familiarity the two were showing with one another when Sora grinned back at him - it shouldn't be all that surprising, considering Sora acted that way with everyone - but since the exam, Sora had been...angrier, almost, and quieter; more withdrawn. Before Mickey and Yen Sid had sent them off home, and once he had returned from whatever 'errand' he'd had to run after the exam, Sora had pretty much been a non-presence in the tower, and the only sure fire way to hunt him down (for all he failed at stealth, he could be damn elusive when he wanted to be) was to look for Lea, first, since they were _almost always together_.

It grated, slightly, but mostly it was just _worrying_. With Sora not talking about what, precisely, he had gone through while trapped in dreams by Xehanort, Riku couldn't pinpoint what had triggered the change in his best friend - and thus he couldn't _fix_ it.

"And _how_ are you going to get into the Realm of Darkness, exactly?" Riku said, hoping to break Sora's argument with logic, something he _knew_ he wielded far better than his friend ever would.

Sora waved his hand around in the air, and though he didn't call a keyblade, Riku could get the gist of what he was saying, and it was annoying, because for Sora it would probably work. "The keyblade will show me the way," he said confidently. "Once we find the right entry point, it'll be - " he made a clicking noise with his tongue, imitating the sound of a lock " - and then we'll be there. Simple."

" _Stupid_ ," Riku said. "Sora, you _know_ nothing good comes from messing with the darkness."

"Yeah," he agreed softly. "Which is why we have to save her, before it's too late."

"And how do you know it's not already too late?" Kairi asked, and though the words made Sora flinch, her tone was gentle. "If you've got her keyblade, then maybe she - "

" _No!_ " Sora cried out, and he actually _took a step towards_ Kairi, hands twitching at his sides as if he wanted to shake her - or shove her away from him the same way the denial clear in his voice pushed the very idea of what she was saying out of mind.

Pale, Kairi froze, and Riku was quick to step in front of her, Sora pausing as he registered the block in his path, eyes clearing from some sort of daze.

"Sora," he said, voice low and pained, filled with the worry and concern he'd been trying so hard to hold back for the past few days, until Sora was ready to talk about what he'd been through in the sleeping worlds. "What is _wrong?_ "

"Talk to us!" Kairi added in, leaning around him with a reassuring hand resting on his forearm. "Sora, please...you've been acting strange lately - " She cut herself off with a gasp as Sora's eyes pulled away from Riku's, locking onto hers with a glare vicious enough to make even Riku fall silent.

(He looked angry, sure, but after a full lifetime's worth of memories spent by his side, Riku knew what Sora looked like when he was about to cry.)

Hesitantly, Lea pulled himself to his feet from where he had been sitting, almost statue still as he watched the three of them - Riku didn't want to say bicker; that made it seem petty and childish, but at the same time it was far from a true argument - debate (yes, that was a nice word), and walked slowly up to where Sora was standing; rested a hand lightly on one shoulder.

"Hey," the redhead said, and there was something dark and sorrowful in his eyes, some sort of recognition as he stared at Sora - as if whatever he was seeing in his mind's eye was _not_ Sora, but was still familiar and heartbreaking. "Whatever it is that you think you can't say - you can tell us. We're your friends, after all."

Sora shuddered, taking in a deep breath, head tilted down to stare at Lea's hand on his shoulder as if it was the only thing tethering him to reality, and when he glanced back up, the emotions in his face completely vulnerable and raw; a glassy sheen to his eyes making it clear that he was very much on the verge of tears.

He opened his mouth, and Riku was pretty much certain that he was about to tell them something, when Yen Sid's voice came from above them - and for the first (also hopefully last) time in his life Riku was really, _really_ tempted to punch an old man - from the balcony, he could see, when he craned his head back.

"Children," he said, and though they _all_ scowled at the label, none spoke up to deny it. "What in the worlds do you think you are doing, arguing on my steps?"

He spoke as if addressing all of them, but his gaze was fixed directly on Sora - the only one of them not to be looking up at the old Master. "I think it would be best for you to come inside," he said. "Before the recklessness of youth drives you to do something you would later regret."

Before them, Sora tensed, probably knowing the words were for him - but he didn't voice any protest, and after a slight pause, in which Lea had to tug insistently at his shoulder, Sora went willingly enough as they herded him inside.

(Riku, though - he wasn't fooled. He'd seen the beginnings of a storm brewing in Sora's eyes, and knew that this - whatever _this_ was - was far from over.)


End file.
